A makeover story of our 1976 GMC Motorhome interior.

Started installing the headliner (update)

After 40 years the material what used to be on the ceiling, was more or less “gone”. Back then they used some kind of card board, however I must say that it last for ever! Even after several H2O attacks.. A local company who also takes care of the upholstery, helped us installing the headliner. These guys are experienced re-upholstering old cars, rv and buses so they will be so much quicker then we are.

Week 11 – there is not must work getting done the past weeks. Most of the sizes for parts are different here and we loose much time figuring out how to fix that and where to source the needed items. During our visit in the US, we noticed that whenever you walk in to a hardware store (hall), you always find what you need. Here in this part of Holland in the country side), you will have to ask in at least 3 different shops, before you got what you need. And even then they look at you as if your building a submarine out of a space shuttle……Oh yeah and the cold weather with temperatures below freezing is another reason why we are slowing down. Feeling sorry for us yet….?

Back to the headliner. The new material is Poplar plywood. It has a laminated side facing outside and the other side will be covered with foam and Sky leather with a great finish. The color is almost identical to the paint. Since the roof is insulated with the standard GMC foam layer and the additional layer of Aluminum insulation, a (hopefully), minimum amount of condense/water vapor will appear between the roof and the headliner when the outside temperatures drops after a hot day. Before we take this baby out, I spent some time on the roof checking for leaks. The old (recently soaked) headliner panels are the templates for the new ones. We finished 2 pieces today. Getting the first on at the right spot was quit a challenge. The Plywood we used had a thickness of 3mm (0.12 Inches), so thats a bit thicker then the other stuff. Together with the layer of foam an the new Sky finish, the new thickness of the panels are almost 5mm (0.20 Inch), but they are still compressible. Carefully using the big red carjack, helped to create space between the ceiling and the wooden walls. The panels slide in just nice. Fits like a glove.

Old card board headliner used as templates

The holes for the LED’s were made after installing the panels. It was not forgotten but done on purpose. It’s just more precise. Make sure that the loops are in reachable distance of the hole positions, so you can pull them out after drilling. First mark on the exact position the outlines of the hole. In this case 40mm (1.57 Inch). Then cut out this circle with a sharp knife, so the 2nd foam layer is visible. Scratch the foam out so the Plywood is in sight. With a core drill carefully drill out the circle out of the wood. Reach for your loop, solder the connections and mount the LED back into it. It’s about 10 minutes/hole and provides you with a fine stiff neck in the evening.

Update:
We are almost done with the new headliner. (Ceiling walls and window trims) Some pieces are still missing, others are a bit short but 95% is done. As the new one is thicker then the old one its much harder to fit the plates into place! The window trims are made of rubber and kind of hard to place them back. We had a hard time painting these (see other posts) so for now we decided to let them OEM (original)